


The Day(s) Stanley Pines Got A Twin

by roseverdict



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Episode: s02e20 Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Glass Shard Beach (Gravity Falls), I'M JUST HAVIN FUN WITH STAN'S MEMORIES DON'T MIND ME, Not stancest - Freeform, PURPLES MY PROSE, Post-Weirdmageddon, Pre-Canon, anyway SCREW IT, i had to change my tags, is it not enough to have a grumpy old man get what he's worked for his whole life?, stancest shippers Do Not Touch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28558173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseverdict/pseuds/roseverdict
Summary: A character study of sorts about Stanley Pines and his twin over the years.(Or, the one where Rosie just completely unhinges herself and writes flowery, poetic words about everybody's favorite grumpy old conman realizing that Ford is his best friend over and over again, in the year of our snord 2021.)(also the one where she begs new readers to not look at her old gf fics from 2016 akdbskdjs i've gotten so much better since then i promise!!!)
Relationships: Ford Pines & Stan Pines
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	The Day(s) Stanley Pines Got A Twin

**Author's Note:**

> i kinda wanna just sit on this and make it more readable but honestly yknow what? it’s 2021, i haven’t written (or posted) gf fic since like 2016, and i’d like to imagine i’ve gotten much better at writing since then, _so!_
> 
> screw it *purples my prose and cliches my writing* >:)
> 
> warnings: stan has The Big Depresso and thinks of his own self-worth very badly from a very young age and very nonchalantly. only for a few sentences tho. also no beta or proofreading, we crank out 2.5k words in under 24 hours and then die like bill.
> 
> happy new year, let’s feel emotions for a cartoon that ended 5 years ago! :D

The first day Stanley Pines got a twin, he didn’t know how to explain what was going on.

If he _had_ known, and if he’d been able to remember it later on, he likely would have described it as follows:

Once upon a time there was Warmth. There was a rhythmic thudding all around, and it was Dark, and Warm, and Home. There was Another with him in the Dark and the Warm and the Home, and that was how it always had been and how it always would be.

Until it wasn’t.

The Other eventually left him, and he was all alone in the Dark and the Warm, but it didn’t feel like Home anymore.

And then it was Light, and it was _Loud,_ and the constant thudding faded away in favor of what he would one day come to recognize as Voices.

Large hands lifted him away from the Dark and the Warm, and they did many things before he was set back down.

It wasn’t the Dark or the Warm, but the Other was there with him, so the baby soon to be known as Stanley Pines decided he was Home.

The second day Stanley Pines got a twin, he knew plenty of words.

He knew words like “dog” and “house” and “Ma” and “Pa” and “Ford.”

He knew words like “brother” and “sister” and “sibling,” and he had enough knowledge to know in his heart that Ford was his brother, but there was something more to it that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Then one day, he noticed that their classmates, if they had any siblings, were never in the same class as those siblings.

It baffled the young Stanley. Who would they talk to if not their siblings? Who would they share funny stories and secrets with? What kind of family didn’t have two children of the same age?

As it turned out, Stanley’s family was the exception, not the rule.

Much like how Ford’s extra fingers were one-of-a-kind, so, too, was Ford’s extra brother.

Stanley was under no illusions. He was the second brother. The unexpected brother. The dumb brother. The brother almost nobody liked, not _really._

But then Ford would turn around and break off Stanley’s worried trains of thought, and he would remind himself that even if the whole world hated him, his brother never would.

All this to say, one day Stanley was playing with his blocks when he saw Ford out of the corner of his eye and realized that _not everybody had a Ford._

Stanley resolved to be the best brother he could be for Ford, since Ford already had the title of Best Brother In The History Of The Whole Entire World.

He could settle for second-best, as long as Ford was number one.

(Then there were the days Stanley Pines lost a twin, but we already knew about those.)

The third day Stanley Pines got a twin, the world was ending, and he didn’t have enough time for the words he wanted to say.

He was an old man now, and his family was split between being decorations in the throne room, leading a demon on a wild goose chase, and…

“KIIIIIDS!!!”

…Ford.

“WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU KIDS, I’M GONNA _DISASSEMBLE YOUR MOLECULES!_ ” Bill’s voice rang throughout the Fearamid. “YOU’VE TRICKED ME FOR THE LAST TIME!”

Stan had plenty of words at his disposal these days, but he still couldn’t help himself from simply groaning in frustration. “I can’t _believe_ this. The kids are gonna die and it’s all my fault! Because I couldn’t shake your _stupid hand!_ ”

Some brother _he’d_ turned out to be.

“Dad was right about me.” Stan finally admitted, slumping to the ground. “I _am_ a screw-up.”

“Don’t blame yourself.”

Stan’s heart stopped. Surely he’d heard him wrong.

“ _I’m_ the one who made a deal with Bill in the first place.” Ford kept talking. “I fell for all his easy flattery. _You_ would’ve seen him for the scam artist he is.” He took a swig of whatever was in his canteen before passing it to Stan, sitting next to him.

“How did things get so messed-up between us?” Stan sighed, gulping down some of the canteen’s contents.

“We _used_ to be like Dipper and Mabel.” Ford said, looking sadly to the hall they’d just seen the children run down. “The world’s about to end and they still work together. How do they _do_ it?”

Stan couldn’t help shrugging, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Easy. They’re _kids._ They don’t know any better.”

(Then again, when Stan had been a kid, he hadn’t _wanted_ to know any better. His brother was Home and that was that.)

Ford stood up, startling Stan out of his thoughts. “Woah, where are _you_ going?”

“I’m gonna play the only card we have left: let Bill into my mind.”

If Stan’s heart had stopped before, now it was full of ice.

“He’ll be able to take over the galaxy, and maybe even _worse,_ but at least he _might_ let the kids free.” Ford managed, his voice thick with worry.

No.

Thick with _fear._

Stan exploded, throwing the canteen aside.

“ _WHAT?_ Are you _kidding me?_ Are you _honestly_ telling me there’s nothing else we can _do?_ ”

There _had_ to be another way. There _had_ to be!

There had to be a way out of this that didn’t let Ford give up the sanctuary of his mind to the demon that wanted to turn the universe into a deadly rave party!

“Bill’s only weak in the mindspace.” Ford pressed. He knocked a fist against his skull with a metallic clanging. “If I didn’t have this darn plate in my head, we could just erase him with the memory gun when he steps inside my mind.”

Stan’s heart began to beat again as he looked at the gun in Ford’s hand, the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind. “What if he goes into _my_ mind? My brain isn’t good for anything.”

Ford laughed, but it was a sad, world-weary laugh. “There’s nothing in your mind he wants. It _has_ to be me. We need to take his deal. It’s the only way he’ll agree to save you and the kids.”

You and the kids.

_You and the kids._

Ford had mentioned Stan as one of the ones he’d bargain for the safety of.

_Ford wanted to make sure he was safe._

“Do you really think he’d make good on that deal?” Stan asked, following Ford up to the edges of their cage.

“What other choice do we have?” Ford sounded despondent.

Then Stan lifted his fez from his head and plopped it on his brother’s head, the plan he’d almost dismissed coming back in full force.

Ford glanced at him in mild confusion, giving Stan a look at his reflection in Ford’s glasses.

Ford looked exactly like him.

Apparently, the light in Stan’s eyes was visible, because Ford’s face crumpled. “Stanley, _please-_ ”

“Ford, take off your sweater.”

“ _Stanley-_ ”

“We can’t let Bill get away, can we?” Stan pointed out, shrugging out of his suit jacket. “We gotta- we gotta work with what we got, right?”

Ford swallowed, but started undressing.

Neither spoke about the numerous scars and marks across their bodies. There wasn’t time.

Once they had switched, Ford glanced at his exposed hands for a moment, his eyes conflicted-

-and then he yanked Stan into a tight hug.

Stan had enough time to get his mind working again and cling his brother like a lifeline, but only barely.

Bill’s thunderous footsteps echoed through the Fearamid, and they hurriedly pulled apart, scrubbed their eyes, and gripped the bars of the cage tight enough to cut off circulation in their fingers.

Stan was an experienced conman, so he didn’t find it too difficult to hide the euphoria of knowing his brother truly didn’t hate him under the just-as-real terror wrought by the sight of Bill and the kids.

The fourth day Stanley Pines got a twin, the world had ended and kept turning, and he only needed one word to say what he wanted.

It was the day before the kids’ (Mabel and Dipper’s) birthday, and Stan’s mind was slowly coming back together. He was in a building that felt like home, but not quite like Home, if that made sense. Sure, he could remember lots of things, but…not everything.

He felt incomplete, and in more than just his lack of memories.

The pig (Waddles) trotted past his feet as he made his way into the kitchen, and he offered the handyman (Soos) a wave of greeting on his way to the fridge.

“How’re ya feeling, Mr. Pines?” Soos asked, glancing his way with a little grin.

“Eh, same as usual, I guess.” Stan shrugged, digging around for a Pitt Cola. “Head hurts marginally less than yesterday, but I haven’t really had anything else magically slot back into place yet.”

Soos’s smile turned slightly sad for a moment, but he shook it off and turned back to the shattered glass that had once been a window. “We’ve got your back, Mr. Pines, whatever you remember.”

“Heh. Thanks, kiddo.” Stan chuckled, finally locating one of the surviving cans of soda and shutting the fridge door.

There was a hissing noise from the gift shop, and Stan walked over to look. The hissing sent (shivers down his spine, icy dread through his blood, grief and victory into his mind in equal measure) a strange sense of familiarity into the parts of him that he’d apparently forgotten, and he had been meaning to see where it came from for the past several days.

The man that the children insisted was his brother stepped out from behind the vending machine, and for a moment, Stan’s mind didn’t react.

Then the man (Forbes?) turned to look at him, and Stan’s heart stopped.

He knew that face.

He knew that hidden door.

He _knew_ that face!

_He knew that hidden door!_

〜〜〜

_“Haha! Good thing you’ve got your smarts, Poindexter! I’ve got the other thing! What is it called…oh, right! PUNCHING!”_

_“Wherever we go, we go together!”_

_“KINGS OF NEW JERSEY! KINGS OF NEW JERSEY!”_

_“Listen, dorks, and listen good!_ You’re _a six-fingered freak, and_ you’re _just a dumber, sweatier version of_ him! _”_

_“High six?”_

_“High six.”_

_“You have two sons. One of them is incredibly gifted. The other one is standing outside this room and his name’s Stanley.”_

_“This is all_ your _fault, you DUMB MACHINE!”_

 _“Can you explain what_ this _was doing next to_ my _broken project?”_

_“-the person who SABOTAGED MY ENTIRE FUTURE!”_

_“…high six?”_

_“Fine! I don’t need you! I DON’T NEED ANYONE!”_

_A postcard, simply reading “PLEASE COME!”_

_“You haven’t seen your brother in over ten years. It’s okay. He’s family! He won’t bite.”_

_“WHO IS IT? HAVE YA COME TO STEAL MY EYES?!”_

_“I’ve made_ huge _mistakes, and I don’t know who I can trust anymore!”_

_“Whatever it is, I’ll understand.”_

_“There is_ nothing _about this I understand.”_

_“Remember our plans to sail around the world on a boat?”_

_A flash of hope._

_“Take this book, get on a boat, and sail as far away as you can! To the edge of the earth! Bury it where no one can find it!”_

_The crush of despair._

_“Stanley, you don’t understand what I’m up against! What I’ve been through!”_

_“No, no,_ you _don’t understand what_ I’ve _been through!”_

 _“I’m selfish?_ I’m _selfish, Stanley?”_

_“-the first worthwhile thing in your life-!”_

_“It was supposed to be us forever! You ruined my life!”_

_“You ruined your own life!”_

_FIRE!_

_“Some brother_ you _turned out to be.”_

 _“Oh,_ no, _what do I do?!”_

_“Stanley! STANLEY, DO SOMETHING!”_

_“STANLEY!!!”_

_“…Stanford?”_

_“Stanford, come back! I didn’t mean it!”_

_“I just got him back, I can’t lose him again!”_

_“STANFORD!!!”_

_“Everything I’ve worked for, everything I care about…IT’S ALL FOR THIS FAMILY!”_

_“PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!”_

_“After thirty long years of waiting, you’re actually here! BROTHER!”_

_“You give me my house back, you give me my_ name _back-!”_

_“PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!”_

_“You want me to shake your hand? SAY THANK YOU!”_

_“Grammar, Stanley.”_

_“I’LL ‘GRAMMAR, STANLEY’ YOU!”_

_“PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!”_

_“The kids are gonna die and it’s all my fault! Because I couldn’t shake your_ stupid hand! _”_

 _Some brother_ he’d _turned out to be._

 _“What if he goes into_ my _mind? My brain isn’t good for anything.”_

_“PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!”_

_“It’s the only way he’ll agree to save you and the kids.”_

_You and the kids._

You and the kids.

 _“Stanley,_ please-! _”_

_“We gotta work with what we got, right?”_

_“PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!”_

_“Heheh, do a pretty good impression of my brother, don’t I? Switch clothes and no one can tell us apart.”_

_“Memory gun. Pretty clever, huh?”_

_“PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!”_

_“You’re a real wise guy, but you made one fatal mistake!”_

_“YOU MESSED WITH MY FAMILY!”_

_“STAAANLEEEY!!!”_

_“PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!”_

_“Heh. Guess I was good for something after all.”_

_“PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!”_

_“He saved the world. He saved_ me. _”_

_“PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!”_

_“You’re our_ hero, _Stanley.”_

〜〜〜

Stan stumbled, his eyes going wide and his can of soda slipping through his fingers. The can fell to the floor with a clang, spilling Pitt Cola all across the tile.

Ford (his brother! his twin! his Home!) tensed, taking a worried step closer. “Stanley, are you alright?”

Stan gaped like a fish out of water for a moment, but he quickly managed to wrangle his mouth into submission long enough to say one word.

“ _Ford._ ”

And for a moment he wasn’t pushing 60 and recognizing his brother for the first time in almost a week, he was pushing 45 and waking up in the basement in a cold sweat, he was pushing 30 and watching his brother vanish, he was 17 and watching his brother close the curtains, he was 12 and watching his brother cheer for him in the boxing ring, he was 6 and realizing not everyone had a Ford, he was he was _he was-!_

And then he was staggering across the room and pulling Ford into a hug before he had the chance to think properly, and for a moment he almost pulled back because-

 _“You give me my house back, you give me my_ name _back-!”_

-but then Ford managed a thick-sounding laugh and he was hugging back, _he was hugging back!_

Praise be to Whatever was Up There, _he was hugging back!_

Soos poked his head in. “Is everything okay in here Mr. Pineses- _GASP!_ ”

Soos’s shout drew the younger twins, who scrambled into the Shack before skidding to a stop at the scene.

Stan was probably blubbering like a baby, and he would steadfastly deny it whenever the story got retold, but in the moment, all he could think about was just how close he’d come to losing his brother, _so_ many times.

But Ford was here.

He was _alive._

_He was hugging Stan back!_

Stan felt he’d earned the right to cry a little, and judging from the way the kids and Soos swiftly grabbed onto him, they agreed.

_He was Home._

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact i listened to the ninjago ost from zane's true potential when i wrote the last part and bawled my eyes out


End file.
